Chapter 5 The birthday banquet

Daisy Chen in full dress took Carl Guo's arm and slowly walked over. "You gave Victor the gift you prepared for Grandma. What do you use to congratulate her birthday?" Daisy looked at Dinah Chen angrily. "Sister, I..." Dinah faltered. "Shut up. I'll deal with you later." said Daisy. After scolding Dinah, she shifted her gaze to Victor and mocked, "Shame on you, loser. You can't afford to buy a gift, so you're going to use my sister's presents to please grandma?" “It's your pleasure to embarrass yourself, isn't it?” she said sarcastically. Daisy couldn't really find a word to describe Victor. She felt that her description of him as a wimp was all a compliment to him. Victor was complete a piece of shit in her eyes. "Daisy, don't waste your time with this fool. Let's go inside and celebrate your grandmother's birthday." Carl grabbed Daisy by the waist. They smiled at each other and walked into the house. They didn't even give Victor a chance to speak. Victor's expression was complicated; he finally just sighed and walked into the house. Today the Chen family had nearly a hundred people here. There were twenty tables of banquets outside, and the house was also full of guests. Most of the younger generation could only enter the inner hall to greet the old lady after presenting gifts, and then they had to walk out. Most of the people who could stay in the hall were Chen family’s members and some famous businessman; others did not have the chance to take a seat here. The master of ceremonies yelled and began to report everyone's congratulatory gifts loudly "Mr. Lianfu Zhang presents a golden wooden plaque worth one hundred thousand dollars." "Chen family’s Dinah presents a hundred-year-old ginseng worth thirty thousand dollars." "Chen family's Wenjie Chen presents a pair of blood-jade bracelets worth half a million dollars." "Daisy and Carl Guo of the Chen family present a famous painting, "Rising Moon over the Sea," It is worth eight hundred thousand dollars." After the master of ceremonies reported this, dozens of eyes looked at Daisy and Carl. Daisy reveled in the envy of all the attention, wearing a smug smile on her face "Daisy, bring your friend in." Just then, a voice came from the inner hall. It was the old lady of the Chen family who was speaking. The crowd was envious of Daisy. Her friend was lucky enough to be invited by the old lady. Victor frowned, and then he handed his gift to the master of ceremonies. "It is a bronze bracelet from the Warring States. It is worth a million dollars." Victor said. "What?" The master was stunned, and then looked at Victor with bantering look. He knew that Victor’s status was lower than a maid or a nanny in the Chen family. He didn't believe he could have a million dollars to buy such an expensive gift. "How dare you deceive the old lady? Buying a forgery cheats the old lady on her seventieth birthday. How could you do that?" Victor stared at the master and didn’t explain. "Fine. I'll see how you'll explain that to the old lady later." said the master. He sneered and didn't argue with Victor. He deliberately increased his voice, "Victor sends a bronze bracelet unearthed by the Warring States. It was worth one million dollars." The entire guests were shocked by the master’s words. "Does he have the money to buy a gift? He can't even support himself." "A million dollars? How could he have so much money? Grandma always loved collecting antiques. She's an expert at identifying treasures. If he buys a fake antique to fool her, he'll be reproached again." A man said. Then the whole room was talking, and some of them had started laughing at Victor. "Victor, you come in here with your present." The old lady's voice came from the inner hall. "Victor, why do you always embarrass yourself? Haven't you been humiliated enough in three years in the Chen family? Why are you always asking for trouble?" A guest said. Hearing this, the master of ceremonies shook his head gloomily for a moment, and then he walked in with the bronze warrior bracelet Victor had given him. Victor did not speak, but followed him. In the hall, the old woman, dressed in yellow, sat in a mahogany chair. Next to her were the second generation of the Chen family's descendants, namely some senior uncles and aunts. Apart from the core members of the Chen family, those who could sit beside the old lady were the businessmen who had a relationship with the Chen family. Among these people, the most notable were a young man wearing golden glasses and a tall woman in a long black dress behind the old lady. The man was Wenjie Chen, the third generation heir of the Chen family. The woman was Ting Zhong, Wenjie Chen’s wife. They were the third generation of the family who could sit with the old lady. The master handed the "Rising Moon over the Sea" to the old lady. "Grandmother, Carl and I spent a lot of time to buy the gift. We spent eight hundred thousand dollars on it." Daisy immediately stepped forward to take the old lady's arm and said. "I want to look at the painting." The old woman nodded, and she took the painting from the master. Only she hadn't looked at it for a few seconds before she furrowed. He glanced sideways at Carl. Carl lowered his head. Actually, he bought the painting for eight thousand dollars. The seller said the resemblance to the real one was ninety-nine percent, and except for a professional treasure hunter, the average person couldn't tell it was a fake. "Grandma, how about it?" Daisy didn't know the painting was a fake. She went on to ask her grandmother. "The painting is great. I like it very much. Thank you." The old lady nodded, and a smile appeared on her face again. But Victor frowned. He could tell right away that the painting Carl had given to the old lady was a fake, and there was no way the old lady couldn't tell it was a fake. After putting down the painting, the old woman picked up the bronze bracelet that Victor gave her. This time, the old woman studied it for a long time. She even put on her presbyopic glasses. The old lady's serious look made these guests present puzzled. Could it be that there was really something special about the bronze bracelet? "Is that the bracelet you bought for a million dollars?" After a while, the old woman spoke up. "Yes." Victor answered truthfully. "Victor, not only are you a loser, but you are a bad person. Why are you trying to fool me with a ten-dollar forgery?" "If you do spend a million dollars for the gift, you'll also have to pay the money to my Chen family. Chen family's money is not for you to waste." Suddenly, the old man tossed the bracelet aside and questioned Victor loudly. As soon as these guests present heard her words, they started to laugh at Victor. "Is it a fake of ten dollars?" "It is unbelievable that the gift he gave is a fake painting." "He dared to fool the old lady with fake things." "I am ashamed for him. Why does he always embarrass himself?" People’s mockery was like needles piercing Victor's heart. The old lady waved her hand and said to Victor, "Get out of here. I don't want to see you again." Victor clenched his fists. At this time he understood the old lady's meaning. The old lady knew that the "Rising Moon over the Sea" given by Carl was a replica, and she must know that his bronze bracelet was real. But there was no point whether the antique was real or not. The authenticity of the antique was not anything significant. It was the person who gave them that mattered. Victor is what the Chen family hates most. His position in the Chen family is worse than a dog. They treat him like he is nothing. Today, even if he gave the old lady gold, it would be called shit by the old lady. Carl is Daisy's boyfriend and the heir to the Guo family. He is from a rich family. Even if he just gave the old woman a scum, the old lady would say it was gold. Victor forced a smile. He was completely disappointed in the Chen family. "You piece of crap, get out of here now." Carl said contemptuously, his eyes full of pride. "Please wait a minute." said Daisy abruptly. Just as the two security guards were about to push Victor out of the inner hall, Daisy took two steps forward. "Grandma, I want to break off the engagement with Victor today.” Daisy's words aroused everyone's curiosity. The crowd looked at them as if they were watching a play. They all enjoyed one drama after another, but both of them have more acting time than the old lady. "The three-year agreement is almost over. Can't you wait?" the old lady asked blankly. "Yes, I can't stand him for a minute. He will lose the face of my Chen family and embarrass me at school. Anyway, he will be kicked out of the Chen family sooner or later, and I want to break off the engagement with him as soon as possible." "Today is grandma's birthday, and it would be great to break off the engagement. And he dares to deceive you with fakes. I don't know what dishonest things he will do in the future." Daisy said impatiently. Victor felt that his throat was stuck by a current of air bursting from his stomach. He felt more and more uncomfortable with this and he couldn't breathe. The old woman pondered for a moment, then looked at Victor again. "Victor, what's your opinion? I give you the right to express yours. If you also want to break off the engagement, then I agree with that today. If you still want to stay in Chen family, I will fulfill the agreement and let you stay longer." "You're kicking me out of your family. Do I still need to stay at your family?" Victor said blankly. "He quite knows himself." Carl whispered and chuckled. "If I were him, I would have no face to stay here for another second." Ting Zhong teased. People in the hall have different looks. Most people were watching Victor’s jokes. This was the Chen family affair, and outsiders would not interfere. They just stood by and watched. Dinah was the only one in the Chen family who had a good relationship with Victor, so she was the only one that worried about Victor. Dinah clenched her hands tightly. He didn't dare look up at Victor's face. She knew Victor must be embarrassed now, but she wasn't able to help him. "So what do you mean?" The old lady looked at Victor and asked. Victor took two steps forward, and then said, "I'm an outsider. So whether the bronze bracelet worth million dollars is real or fake, it's fake in your eyes." "Daisy is the member of Chen family, so even if her gift for you is a fake, you’ll still say it's real. I can understand that you defend your family. But I can't tolerate you trampling on my dignity in public." Victor took a deep breath and clenched his teeth. He took off the engagement ring of his finger and tossed it in front of the hall. "Today I agree to break off the engagement. We made a three-year contract together. Now that the time has not yet come, your Chen family has abandoned the agreement, plus Daisy has slept with others during the engagement, so today it is not she who has the right to break off the engagement with me, it is I who abandon her."